I have often moaned and complained about Latina Christiana and Prima Latina, all volumes of which we tossed out in favor of other Latin programs that didn't cause such weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth.
BUT
Thalia's choir was singing in a concert. And it was pretty cool when AnnaBeth and I recognized the song:
Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus
Dominus Deus Sabbaoth.
Pleni sunt caeli et terra gloria Tua.
Hosanna in excelsis.
Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini.
Hosanna in excelsis.
We sort of giggled and chanted along quietly.
Afterwards I said something to Thalia about how handy it was that she already knew the words to that one.
"Yeah, and we'd even learned the correct pronunciation.' It was pretty apparent from the tone of her voice that this did NOT mean that she had any desire whatsoever to touch those books again. Additionally, she's into classical pronunciation now, thank you very much.
But, hey, at least all those weeks of Prima Latina weren't a total waste.
02 May 2008
Trivia
So far today I've gotten up early, had some Green Magma to drink, then scrubbed the kitchen floor while listening to classical music.
After that I ate pecan shortbread chocolate chunk cookies, fried bacon, ate the bacon, fried bread in the bacon grease, then ate that, all while mindlessly reading Internet forums.
Which way will the day go -- back on track for the healthy, productive lifestyle? Or diving further into the depths of junk food and drivel?
After that I ate pecan shortbread chocolate chunk cookies, fried bacon, ate the bacon, fried bread in the bacon grease, then ate that, all while mindlessly reading Internet forums.
Which way will the day go -- back on track for the healthy, productive lifestyle? Or diving further into the depths of junk food and drivel?
30 April 2008
Ruffles, and Red, White and Blue
AnnaBeth's choir director asked that they wear red, white and blue to their next performance. Well, okay. Except that the only red clothing she has is Christmas related, and it's (finally) too warm for that sort of thing. And the only blue she has is denim, which really isn't so much "blue" as it is "denim".
So we decided to make a new skirt. And I figured that AnnaBeth wanted something a little flouncier than an A-line or simple gathered skirt. After much consultation she decided she liked Ottobre 3/2006 #35, which is an extravaganza of ruffles. She thought perhaps we should make some ruffles blue and some red, but I thought it might be nice to find some printed fabric.
A trip to JoAnn's yielded patriotic Hello Kitty (who knew?), as well as some white fabric with stars sprinkled across it.
This is what happens when you cross a need for red, white, and blue with a need for lots of frills:
I had purchased some red ribbon to sew on some of the outer, blue ruffles, but AnnaBeth decided against that. I think she was right, since that would've added too much weight to those ruffles.
This really weighs a ton -- it's got 2 layers. The under skirt is supposed to be white batiste with 2 frills on the bottom. I used white for the upper part, but the starry fabric for the frills. I hemmed the frills with my serger set for a narrow rolled hem, one using red thread and the other using blue. It came out looking sort of like ribbons:
That white fabric was stuffed in a drawer with a price tag of 47 cents per yard. I think it originally belonged to my mother-in-law's mother, who had purchased it way back when. You know, back before we called it "stash" and instead called it "sort of odd hoarding behavior, possibly brought on by surviving the Great Depression".
I'd thought I was being clever by ignoring Ottobre's directions about the size of the elastic in the waist -- I thought they wanted it way too small. But, no, they were right -- the skirt is so heavy that it drags right down onto her hips. But it seems to work in spite of my larger elastic.
I finished it this morning. She's worn in non-stop today. I hope it lasts until her performance, and doesn't end up mud caked or ripped by then.
So we decided to make a new skirt. And I figured that AnnaBeth wanted something a little flouncier than an A-line or simple gathered skirt. After much consultation she decided she liked Ottobre 3/2006 #35, which is an extravaganza of ruffles. She thought perhaps we should make some ruffles blue and some red, but I thought it might be nice to find some printed fabric.
A trip to JoAnn's yielded patriotic Hello Kitty (who knew?), as well as some white fabric with stars sprinkled across it.
This is what happens when you cross a need for red, white, and blue with a need for lots of frills:
I had purchased some red ribbon to sew on some of the outer, blue ruffles, but AnnaBeth decided against that. I think she was right, since that would've added too much weight to those ruffles.
This really weighs a ton -- it's got 2 layers. The under skirt is supposed to be white batiste with 2 frills on the bottom. I used white for the upper part, but the starry fabric for the frills. I hemmed the frills with my serger set for a narrow rolled hem, one using red thread and the other using blue. It came out looking sort of like ribbons:
That white fabric was stuffed in a drawer with a price tag of 47 cents per yard. I think it originally belonged to my mother-in-law's mother, who had purchased it way back when. You know, back before we called it "stash" and instead called it "sort of odd hoarding behavior, possibly brought on by surviving the Great Depression".
I'd thought I was being clever by ignoring Ottobre's directions about the size of the elastic in the waist -- I thought they wanted it way too small. But, no, they were right -- the skirt is so heavy that it drags right down onto her hips. But it seems to work in spite of my larger elastic.
I finished it this morning. She's worn in non-stop today. I hope it lasts until her performance, and doesn't end up mud caked or ripped by then.
28 April 2008
"Stitch It Together" Try-It for Brownies
Honestly, this would've been an easier Try-It for us to do at home, but that can't be said for everyone in AnnaBeth's Brownie troop. So, it ended up as a troop project. The girls made doll quilts.
We were instructed to get fabric and cut out 6 squares of 8" by 8", and a backing of 16" by 24" (yes, quick math show that this isn't really correct, as you have seam allowances, but I guess the woman in charge decided it was the easiest way to explain it to everyone, or maybe she didn't feel like doing the math herself -- I never know in these situations). We also purchased some buttons.
Those who were unable to purchase their own fabric had some provided for them.
We happened into a sale at JoAnn's on quilting fabric and buttons.
(Picture is yellow because it was taken on the dining room table in winter.)
At the meetings the girls sewed on the buttons on one square (task #2, Button Collage) and embroidered designs on another square or 2 (task #3, Embroidery). Did I mention that there are about 20 girls in our troop? So, that's 20 kids in 1st through 3rd grade who are trying to figure out how to sew on buttons and how to embroider (and we didn't have hoops, which added to the challenge). And, yeah, we have heavy parental involvement, but an amazing number of the parents have little idea how to sew on a button or how to embroider. It was ... intense. The troop provided the needles, thrjead, scissors, and embroidery floss (I think the floss was donated by someone who had gobs of DMC that the labels had fallen off of; actually, AnnaBeth took some of our from home so she knew she had a color she liked).
After decorating some of the squares with buttons and embroidery, the girls brought all 6 squares to the sewing machines. What sewing machines? Why, the ones lugged in by some of the moms. I took my old Viking, which is absolutely awesome for this task since it has a "low gear" in which you CANNOT sew quickly no matter how much you stomp on the pedal (another plus is its nice carrying case, but a minus is that it weighs about as much as my car). Working closely with the sewing machine mavens, each girl sewed together at least some of her squares. Well, if she wanted to. If she was really timid, she was welcome to just watch while being talked through what was going on. At least, the kids who were with me got talked through it -- my experience teaching Thalia and AnnaBeth to sew merged with my years of library reference work teaching university freshmen how to use the online card catalog, and I was in the ZONE about explaining what we were doing and why. (task #6, Patch It All Together) The seams were ironed flat by the adults; someone had brought in an iron, and a little ironing station was set up.
The troop provided batting. The completed 6 squares were laid on top of the batting and the backing, and sewn together (sometimes by Brownies, sometimes not) leaving a gap for turning. All quilts were turned, and the girls were given needles and thread to whip the gap closed (task #5, Sew What?)
Okay, admittedly some of these tasks aren't spot on how they're written in the Try-It book, but we took at least 3 meetings to do this, and the kids really did work quite a bit on stitching skills.
A finished product.
Thalia thought it was such a cool concept that she got some fabric to make one, too.
We were instructed to get fabric and cut out 6 squares of 8" by 8", and a backing of 16" by 24" (yes, quick math show that this isn't really correct, as you have seam allowances, but I guess the woman in charge decided it was the easiest way to explain it to everyone, or maybe she didn't feel like doing the math herself -- I never know in these situations). We also purchased some buttons.
Those who were unable to purchase their own fabric had some provided for them.
We happened into a sale at JoAnn's on quilting fabric and buttons.
(Picture is yellow because it was taken on the dining room table in winter.)
At the meetings the girls sewed on the buttons on one square (task #2, Button Collage) and embroidered designs on another square or 2 (task #3, Embroidery). Did I mention that there are about 20 girls in our troop? So, that's 20 kids in 1st through 3rd grade who are trying to figure out how to sew on buttons and how to embroider (and we didn't have hoops, which added to the challenge). And, yeah, we have heavy parental involvement, but an amazing number of the parents have little idea how to sew on a button or how to embroider. It was ... intense. The troop provided the needles, thrjead, scissors, and embroidery floss (I think the floss was donated by someone who had gobs of DMC that the labels had fallen off of; actually, AnnaBeth took some of our from home so she knew she had a color she liked).
After decorating some of the squares with buttons and embroidery, the girls brought all 6 squares to the sewing machines. What sewing machines? Why, the ones lugged in by some of the moms. I took my old Viking, which is absolutely awesome for this task since it has a "low gear" in which you CANNOT sew quickly no matter how much you stomp on the pedal (another plus is its nice carrying case, but a minus is that it weighs about as much as my car). Working closely with the sewing machine mavens, each girl sewed together at least some of her squares. Well, if she wanted to. If she was really timid, she was welcome to just watch while being talked through what was going on. At least, the kids who were with me got talked through it -- my experience teaching Thalia and AnnaBeth to sew merged with my years of library reference work teaching university freshmen how to use the online card catalog, and I was in the ZONE about explaining what we were doing and why. (task #6, Patch It All Together) The seams were ironed flat by the adults; someone had brought in an iron, and a little ironing station was set up.
The troop provided batting. The completed 6 squares were laid on top of the batting and the backing, and sewn together (sometimes by Brownies, sometimes not) leaving a gap for turning. All quilts were turned, and the girls were given needles and thread to whip the gap closed (task #5, Sew What?)
Okay, admittedly some of these tasks aren't spot on how they're written in the Try-It book, but we took at least 3 meetings to do this, and the kids really did work quite a bit on stitching skills.
A finished product.
Thalia thought it was such a cool concept that she got some fabric to make one, too.
23 April 2008
And One Finished for Me
Long ago I became interested in A Thomas Jefferson Education by Oliver Van DeMille. I found the online discussion of the book tantalizing. A new look at homeschooling! Woohoo! It sounded like it was changing lives.
But, of course, I was too cheap to actually purchase a copy of the book. I found out what I could about the contents and the author, and had to be satisfied with that.
A few weeks ago I happened to look up Thomas Jefferson Education in our library's catalog. Hey, they had it! I placed a hold, and eagerly awaited its arrival.
And last week it finally came! And I got to read it! And it was ... really mediocre. Sigh. All my hopes for revolutionary thought were dashed. It was nothing new, packaged in a book that seemed like a cross between an extremely long magazine article, and a brochure for George Wythe College, which is the non-accredited school the author runs.
So. Set a good example for your kids by studying and learning new things. Classics are good. not that he ever defines what he means by classics. Mentors are good. Apparently we should all strive to become statesmen, although I don't recall that he ever explained what that meant, either. George Wythe College is (according to DeMille) a sparkling example of higher education.
I did get a kick out of this quote from page 125: "We are inundated with information, but most of it does us very little good." Umm, yep, that pretty much sums up my thoughts on this book.
But, of course, I was too cheap to actually purchase a copy of the book. I found out what I could about the contents and the author, and had to be satisfied with that.
A few weeks ago I happened to look up Thomas Jefferson Education in our library's catalog. Hey, they had it! I placed a hold, and eagerly awaited its arrival.
And last week it finally came! And I got to read it! And it was ... really mediocre. Sigh. All my hopes for revolutionary thought were dashed. It was nothing new, packaged in a book that seemed like a cross between an extremely long magazine article, and a brochure for George Wythe College, which is the non-accredited school the author runs.
So. Set a good example for your kids by studying and learning new things. Classics are good. not that he ever defines what he means by classics. Mentors are good. Apparently we should all strive to become statesmen, although I don't recall that he ever explained what that meant, either. George Wythe College is (according to DeMille) a sparkling example of higher education.
I did get a kick out of this quote from page 125: "We are inundated with information, but most of it does us very little good." Umm, yep, that pretty much sums up my thoughts on this book.
22 April 2008
Another One Bites the Dust
I will never again teach First Language Lessons.
It's done. Finished. History.
Two kids worth of use, and it's looking rather battered. The protective coating is peeling right off of the cover. It has that look that a book gets when it's pulled off and replaced on a shelf a couple hundred times.
I'll admit that it's been incredibly boring at times. For some reason, it didn't seem quite so bad the second time through, though. Perhaps that's because I knew what to expect. Perhaps it's because I didn't have a toddler demanding my attention, leaving me feeling frazzled about getting through all the lessons in the shortest time possible.
We added Montessori grammar games. We made the chants into hand clap games and dances. We skipped lessons, particularly at the beginning. We sang the poems for which we knew a tune (All Things Beautiful, for example).
Overall, I've decided that I like slightly scripted lessons. They're a nice change of pace. When I'm feeling crummy I can follow the script, but when I'm perky I can go off in my own direction.
For the record, I think the book's cover picture is weird. I'll not be missing that at all.
It's done. Finished. History.
Two kids worth of use, and it's looking rather battered. The protective coating is peeling right off of the cover. It has that look that a book gets when it's pulled off and replaced on a shelf a couple hundred times.
I'll admit that it's been incredibly boring at times. For some reason, it didn't seem quite so bad the second time through, though. Perhaps that's because I knew what to expect. Perhaps it's because I didn't have a toddler demanding my attention, leaving me feeling frazzled about getting through all the lessons in the shortest time possible.
We added Montessori grammar games. We made the chants into hand clap games and dances. We skipped lessons, particularly at the beginning. We sang the poems for which we knew a tune (All Things Beautiful, for example).
Overall, I've decided that I like slightly scripted lessons. They're a nice change of pace. When I'm feeling crummy I can follow the script, but when I'm perky I can go off in my own direction.
For the record, I think the book's cover picture is weird. I'll not be missing that at all.
16 April 2008
Homeschool Snapshot
MATH
Thalia decided she needed to work on fractions, percents, and decimals before moving into a pre-Algebra program. We got the Key to. ... series for her to work on, and she's been going through the books on her own. She likes the incremental pace; I think she also gets a kick out of how easy some of it is. I don't think she's learning anything new, but she's getting plenty of practice on concepts. RightStart was great on explanations, and then gave just a few interesting problems to work on -- Thalia apparently needed gobs of practice problems, which she's getting now.
In the meantime, I've been looking over pre-Algebra programs, and have decided that some of the main features of them are working on fractions, decimals, and percents, and making sure those are solid before moving on to Algebra. I think we'll plunge into Algebra once she's done with these books.
AnnaBeth continues in RightStart C. We are at about lesson 95. She's doing well with memorizing multiplication tables. Not that RightStart calls it that -- at this point she's just learning to skip count really, really quickly, according to the program. She's working on 4 digit subtraction, which seems to be going smoothly.
Latin
Thalia continues with Latin for Children, which she adores. She eagerly awaits Greek for Children, convinced that the people at Classical Academic Press will put together the Best Program Ever since they have the magic touch in language programs.
AnnaBeth was doing Prima Latina, but ... oh, lordy, those Memoria Press language programs just kill me. I dread getting out the book. And AnnaBeth wasn't exactly pushing for it. At first she was so eager to learn Latin that she insisted, and I just sort of went along with her enthusiasm. But bit by bit that enthusiasm eroded with the onslaught of B.O.R.I.N.G. lessons. Latin seems to be on hold for this child for a few more weeks.
Foreign Language
Thalia also continues in Rosetta Stone Spanish. She's bored with it. I've been looking for something else to mix it with, but so far haven't found anything that seems appropriate. What she'd really like if Spanish for Children by Classical Academic Press, since she considers them the source of all Perfect Language Programs. Maybe we'll take a look at it when it's published.
AnnaBeth is taking another try at French. A couple of years ago we tried The Easy French. Since she didn't yet know how to read we simply listened to the tapes. Not much stuck, frankly. We just started the program again, this time with reading and writing. AnnaBeth is excited about this. I'll be interested to see how well we learn to read French with the little Spalding-type phonogram cards they provide.
Reading and Writing
We just got our copy of Lightning Literature 7 last week, and Thalia immediately started in. I got a copy of the Harold Bloom's book Stories and Poems for Extremely Intelligent Children from the library so she could read Riki Tiki Tavi. She keeps taking the book and wandering off with it, reading other things. Sheesh, that child loves to read. She also likes Lightning Lit, it seems. I think she likes having a mental checklist of what all needs to be covered, and being able to see how she's progressing; having a workbook provides that.
Analytical Grammar is on order. Right now she's not doing any other grammar program; way back when we dumped Rod and Staff 5th grade and never replaced it with anything. It's time to focus on grammar again. Simply doing dictation and looking up rules as needed really didn't seem to help with usage rules, either. I think Analytical Grammar gets into some usage. I hope so. We'll see.
In the meantime, AnnaBeth is 4 lessons away from completing First Language Lessons. She's very excited. We already have a copy of the Level 3 book and workbook ready to start next week. And she's very excited about that, too. Yes, both my kids are excited that their new programs contain workbooks.
AnnaBeth also is working on cursive in the Handwriting Without Tears workbook, which she really enjoys. She does this pretty much on her own. Every so often I'm supposed to come up with a list of words for her to write in cursive. That's pretty much the extent of my involvement.
No one works on spelling on a regular basis.
We are in the final week of Ambleside Year 1, which we've been using for read alouds. We continue to slog through all of the LIttle House books. We are currently in The Long Winter, with its continuous blizzards and continuous discussion of whether or not the train can make it through the Tracy Cut. Why did these people ever move from The Big Woods? Life was good back in The Big Woods; they should've stayed there.
Science
Science is a motley assortment of classes at the Science Center, the zoo, and Girl Scout badge work. We're trying to come up with something more systematic for next year for Thalia. She'll be too old for Science Center classes, and the Cadette Interest Projects aren't so science-y (insert snide comment here about how Girl Scouts comes up with what to put in their books -- use your imagination). So. Middle School science -- the bane of so many homeschoolers. Umm. Well. Ahem. Moving on.
History
Let's just call our history program "interest led". "Erratic" would also be a good word to use. Thalia is interested in Greeks and Vikings. AnnaBeth is interested in Egyptians. So sometimes we read about these things, or listen to audio books, or watch programs about them. And sometimes we don't. Okay, moving on.
Oh! Wait! Those Ambleside readings have a bunch of history! Okay, then, we've been doing history of Britain, as well as some Vikings and some early Christian church.
Other Stuff
Piano. We have an excellent piano teacher. The kids are learning so much from her. Heck, I am learning so much from her.
Phys Ed. Last week feature workshops with John Carey. Who'd've thought we'd be doing workshops with a World Champion who starred in Lord of the Dance. Irish Dance is so weird. AnnaBeth also continues to work her way through the YMCA swimming program.
Hmm, I think that's what we do for homeschool these days. It's hard to say -- the homeschool stuff is so embedded in life that you can't really say "okay this is school" and "this over here is just living our lives". But these are the things I keep track of in our notebooks in order to comply with Missouri homeschool law.
Thalia decided she needed to work on fractions, percents, and decimals before moving into a pre-Algebra program. We got the Key to. ... series for her to work on, and she's been going through the books on her own. She likes the incremental pace; I think she also gets a kick out of how easy some of it is. I don't think she's learning anything new, but she's getting plenty of practice on concepts. RightStart was great on explanations, and then gave just a few interesting problems to work on -- Thalia apparently needed gobs of practice problems, which she's getting now.
In the meantime, I've been looking over pre-Algebra programs, and have decided that some of the main features of them are working on fractions, decimals, and percents, and making sure those are solid before moving on to Algebra. I think we'll plunge into Algebra once she's done with these books.
AnnaBeth continues in RightStart C. We are at about lesson 95. She's doing well with memorizing multiplication tables. Not that RightStart calls it that -- at this point she's just learning to skip count really, really quickly, according to the program. She's working on 4 digit subtraction, which seems to be going smoothly.
Latin
Thalia continues with Latin for Children, which she adores. She eagerly awaits Greek for Children, convinced that the people at Classical Academic Press will put together the Best Program Ever since they have the magic touch in language programs.
AnnaBeth was doing Prima Latina, but ... oh, lordy, those Memoria Press language programs just kill me. I dread getting out the book. And AnnaBeth wasn't exactly pushing for it. At first she was so eager to learn Latin that she insisted, and I just sort of went along with her enthusiasm. But bit by bit that enthusiasm eroded with the onslaught of B.O.R.I.N.G. lessons. Latin seems to be on hold for this child for a few more weeks.
Foreign Language
Thalia also continues in Rosetta Stone Spanish. She's bored with it. I've been looking for something else to mix it with, but so far haven't found anything that seems appropriate. What she'd really like if Spanish for Children by Classical Academic Press, since she considers them the source of all Perfect Language Programs. Maybe we'll take a look at it when it's published.
AnnaBeth is taking another try at French. A couple of years ago we tried The Easy French. Since she didn't yet know how to read we simply listened to the tapes. Not much stuck, frankly. We just started the program again, this time with reading and writing. AnnaBeth is excited about this. I'll be interested to see how well we learn to read French with the little Spalding-type phonogram cards they provide.
Reading and Writing
We just got our copy of Lightning Literature 7 last week, and Thalia immediately started in. I got a copy of the Harold Bloom's book Stories and Poems for Extremely Intelligent Children from the library so she could read Riki Tiki Tavi. She keeps taking the book and wandering off with it, reading other things. Sheesh, that child loves to read. She also likes Lightning Lit, it seems. I think she likes having a mental checklist of what all needs to be covered, and being able to see how she's progressing; having a workbook provides that.
Analytical Grammar is on order. Right now she's not doing any other grammar program; way back when we dumped Rod and Staff 5th grade and never replaced it with anything. It's time to focus on grammar again. Simply doing dictation and looking up rules as needed really didn't seem to help with usage rules, either. I think Analytical Grammar gets into some usage. I hope so. We'll see.
In the meantime, AnnaBeth is 4 lessons away from completing First Language Lessons. She's very excited. We already have a copy of the Level 3 book and workbook ready to start next week. And she's very excited about that, too. Yes, both my kids are excited that their new programs contain workbooks.
AnnaBeth also is working on cursive in the Handwriting Without Tears workbook, which she really enjoys. She does this pretty much on her own. Every so often I'm supposed to come up with a list of words for her to write in cursive. That's pretty much the extent of my involvement.
No one works on spelling on a regular basis.
We are in the final week of Ambleside Year 1, which we've been using for read alouds. We continue to slog through all of the LIttle House books. We are currently in The Long Winter, with its continuous blizzards and continuous discussion of whether or not the train can make it through the Tracy Cut. Why did these people ever move from The Big Woods? Life was good back in The Big Woods; they should've stayed there.
Science
Science is a motley assortment of classes at the Science Center, the zoo, and Girl Scout badge work. We're trying to come up with something more systematic for next year for Thalia. She'll be too old for Science Center classes, and the Cadette Interest Projects aren't so science-y (insert snide comment here about how Girl Scouts comes up with what to put in their books -- use your imagination). So. Middle School science -- the bane of so many homeschoolers. Umm. Well. Ahem. Moving on.
History
Let's just call our history program "interest led". "Erratic" would also be a good word to use. Thalia is interested in Greeks and Vikings. AnnaBeth is interested in Egyptians. So sometimes we read about these things, or listen to audio books, or watch programs about them. And sometimes we don't. Okay, moving on.
Oh! Wait! Those Ambleside readings have a bunch of history! Okay, then, we've been doing history of Britain, as well as some Vikings and some early Christian church.
Other Stuff
Piano. We have an excellent piano teacher. The kids are learning so much from her. Heck, I am learning so much from her.
Phys Ed. Last week feature workshops with John Carey. Who'd've thought we'd be doing workshops with a World Champion who starred in Lord of the Dance. Irish Dance is so weird. AnnaBeth also continues to work her way through the YMCA swimming program.
Hmm, I think that's what we do for homeschool these days. It's hard to say -- the homeschool stuff is so embedded in life that you can't really say "okay this is school" and "this over here is just living our lives". But these are the things I keep track of in our notebooks in order to comply with Missouri homeschool law.
07 April 2008
The Little Sock That Nobody Loved
In February I cast on a sock for MrV, using KnitPicks Shine in Cocoa and Yarn Harlot's Earl Grey Pattern. At first it was fun -- the yarn is a wonderful chocolate brown, the pattern is easy, the knitting just flowed along.
Then March came, Gloomy, wet, cold March. Life revolved around delivering Girl Scout cookies (in snow, rain, and cold) and schlepping kids to dance classes and performances (in rain and cold). We had to put one of our cats down. I got sick. March tried to suck away my will to live. It succeeded in sucking away my will to knit.
But April eventually arrived, and I made it to the toe of the sock:
Before I grafted the toe I had MrV try it on.
Question 1: "What am I going to wear these with?" Uh, I thought the brown would go with those brown pants you really like. But, honestly, now that it's knit up I don't much like how it looks with the pant fabric.
Question 2: "They seem sort of short in the cuff. Can you make this part longer?" Now, these socks were knit from the cuff down. I have several thoughts swimming through my head at this point. One is that I think knitting socks from the cuff down is stupid, I'm not sure why I did it, and the fact that MrV wants me to add to the cuff proves that every knitter who gets sucked into this method is an idiot. But, let's face it, everyone knows that I would have no problems with the concept of cutting off the ribbing of the cuff, putting the stitches on needles, and knitting up to make the cuff longer. Then again, I really don't like this sock, loaded as it is with memories of gloomy, cold, wet March. And, finally, there isn't enough yarn to make this cut-and-knit-the-other-way worthwhile. So I answer, "No." I tell him they are knit from the cuff down, and imply that is the fault of the universal obsession with knitting socks from the cuff down that is the problem.
Question 3: "Are you mad that I don't like them?" No, I'm grateful I found out before I knit the second sock. If I'd knit both sock and then watched them languish, then I'd be upset. Particularly because I don't especially like this sock, either.
So, what to do with the rest of the yarn? What to cast on next, to wipe away the bad taste of this sock? Alas, I have no time to play around with yarn. I'm schlepping kids to special dance workshops taught by Mr. Famous Dancer every. single. day. And doing the laundry associated with all of this dancing.
But today is a bright and sunny day, the dance workshop will be over in a few more days, and I have a box of bamboo yarn to play with. Life moves on, better than before. It just doesn't move on wearing this sock, which shall be frogged.
Then March came, Gloomy, wet, cold March. Life revolved around delivering Girl Scout cookies (in snow, rain, and cold) and schlepping kids to dance classes and performances (in rain and cold). We had to put one of our cats down. I got sick. March tried to suck away my will to live. It succeeded in sucking away my will to knit.
But April eventually arrived, and I made it to the toe of the sock:
Before I grafted the toe I had MrV try it on.
Question 1: "What am I going to wear these with?" Uh, I thought the brown would go with those brown pants you really like. But, honestly, now that it's knit up I don't much like how it looks with the pant fabric.
Question 2: "They seem sort of short in the cuff. Can you make this part longer?" Now, these socks were knit from the cuff down. I have several thoughts swimming through my head at this point. One is that I think knitting socks from the cuff down is stupid, I'm not sure why I did it, and the fact that MrV wants me to add to the cuff proves that every knitter who gets sucked into this method is an idiot. But, let's face it, everyone knows that I would have no problems with the concept of cutting off the ribbing of the cuff, putting the stitches on needles, and knitting up to make the cuff longer. Then again, I really don't like this sock, loaded as it is with memories of gloomy, cold, wet March. And, finally, there isn't enough yarn to make this cut-and-knit-the-other-way worthwhile. So I answer, "No." I tell him they are knit from the cuff down, and imply that is the fault of the universal obsession with knitting socks from the cuff down that is the problem.
Question 3: "Are you mad that I don't like them?" No, I'm grateful I found out before I knit the second sock. If I'd knit both sock and then watched them languish, then I'd be upset. Particularly because I don't especially like this sock, either.
So, what to do with the rest of the yarn? What to cast on next, to wipe away the bad taste of this sock? Alas, I have no time to play around with yarn. I'm schlepping kids to special dance workshops taught by Mr. Famous Dancer every. single. day. And doing the laundry associated with all of this dancing.
But today is a bright and sunny day, the dance workshop will be over in a few more days, and I have a box of bamboo yarn to play with. Life moves on, better than before. It just doesn't move on wearing this sock, which shall be frogged.
02 April 2008
Theater Badge
I ended up being in charge of the Theater Badge for Thalia's Junior Girl Scout troop this spring.
I looked into taking the troop on a field trip to a theater department in a high school or at the YMCA in west county, but the trips didn't really sound all that exciting for the amount of time, trouble, and money to get the kids to the place. Also, Thalia pointed out that this crowd really likes to do crafts, and thought we should make sure we had a chance to make masks (option 1 in the badge book).
So we ended up doing the badge at our usual meeting site, which meant that I actually had to be in charge of everything. Me, leading theater exercises? Actually, it turned out fine -- this is a great group of girls.
We used the theater exercises in the badge book -- Mirror Mimic, Character Charades, Belt it Out, and How You Say It (I modified this to be a Sentence Game). I mixed in some other theater games like Zip Zap Zop and Human Orchestra. I got a lot of ideas from the book On Stage: Theatre Games and Activities for Kids.
Next up we worked on the Mix It Up, Make It Up activity of the badge. This is a costuming activity. I had brought a couple of big bags of cloth -- sheets, capes, old curtains, fabric remnants -- as well as belts, a huge bag of safety pins, and other costume-y odds and ends. I announced that we were going to play Project Runway -- working in pairs, they were to design a costume for a fairy tale, then have one person of the pair walk it down the "runway" while the other described what the character was. I assigned the pairs (on advice from Thalia), and the girls got to work. There was much giggling, and some very creative outfits were produced. The teams switched roles, then, for another go at the runway.
Finally, the moment we had all been waiting for -- I passed out the paper plates and announced that we were making masks. Aside from the usual markers, glue sticks, construction paper, tape and yarn, I had raided our home craft supplies to come up with feathers, crepe paper streamers, sequins, pipe cleaners, and random shapes cut from foam sheets (I really don't know why we own some of this stuff, which represents several years of accumulation).
The girls cut holes in the masks for their eyes, I tied yarn on the sides so they could tie the masks onto their heads, and they all started creating.
These are just the ones from Thalia and AnnaBeth (who had tagged along). The group had an amazing assortment -- they showed fantastic creativity. We had a bird, a Yeti, a Greek mask representing Dionysius. Some girls worked the entire time on one mask; others finished quickly, and I suggested they make another.
Once all of the masks were finished we sat in a circle and they introduced their masks -- they put them on, and acted like the character of the mask.
Overall I thought it was a pretty successful meeting.
I looked into taking the troop on a field trip to a theater department in a high school or at the YMCA in west county, but the trips didn't really sound all that exciting for the amount of time, trouble, and money to get the kids to the place. Also, Thalia pointed out that this crowd really likes to do crafts, and thought we should make sure we had a chance to make masks (option 1 in the badge book).
So we ended up doing the badge at our usual meeting site, which meant that I actually had to be in charge of everything. Me, leading theater exercises? Actually, it turned out fine -- this is a great group of girls.
We used the theater exercises in the badge book -- Mirror Mimic, Character Charades, Belt it Out, and How You Say It (I modified this to be a Sentence Game). I mixed in some other theater games like Zip Zap Zop and Human Orchestra. I got a lot of ideas from the book On Stage: Theatre Games and Activities for Kids.
Next up we worked on the Mix It Up, Make It Up activity of the badge. This is a costuming activity. I had brought a couple of big bags of cloth -- sheets, capes, old curtains, fabric remnants -- as well as belts, a huge bag of safety pins, and other costume-y odds and ends. I announced that we were going to play Project Runway -- working in pairs, they were to design a costume for a fairy tale, then have one person of the pair walk it down the "runway" while the other described what the character was. I assigned the pairs (on advice from Thalia), and the girls got to work. There was much giggling, and some very creative outfits were produced. The teams switched roles, then, for another go at the runway.
Finally, the moment we had all been waiting for -- I passed out the paper plates and announced that we were making masks. Aside from the usual markers, glue sticks, construction paper, tape and yarn, I had raided our home craft supplies to come up with feathers, crepe paper streamers, sequins, pipe cleaners, and random shapes cut from foam sheets (I really don't know why we own some of this stuff, which represents several years of accumulation).
The girls cut holes in the masks for their eyes, I tied yarn on the sides so they could tie the masks onto their heads, and they all started creating.
These are just the ones from Thalia and AnnaBeth (who had tagged along). The group had an amazing assortment -- they showed fantastic creativity. We had a bird, a Yeti, a Greek mask representing Dionysius. Some girls worked the entire time on one mask; others finished quickly, and I suggested they make another.
Once all of the masks were finished we sat in a circle and they introduced their masks -- they put them on, and acted like the character of the mask.
Overall I thought it was a pretty successful meeting.
17 March 2008
Current Events at Our House
This is how it goes:
Dance performance
Dance performance
Ceili class
Dance class
Ceili class
(day off)
Dance performance
Parade
Dance performance
Dance performance
Dance performance
Dance performance
We are currently sitting around watching television like total slugs, having skipped the performance we could be at right this very minute. And we're also skipping the one after that. Ssshhhh, don't tell. It's starting to feel like we're in a cult -- total lack of sleep coupled with doing the same thing over and over and over again.
Still to come:
Dance performance
Ceili class
Dance class
Ceili class
Then I think something else happens, like, oh, that's right, Easter. That holiday for which we have no shoes or clothing or Easter-basket-stuff.
Dance performance
Dance performance
Ceili class
Dance class
Ceili class
(day off)
Dance performance
Parade
Dance performance
Dance performance
Dance performance
Dance performance
We are currently sitting around watching television like total slugs, having skipped the performance we could be at right this very minute. And we're also skipping the one after that. Ssshhhh, don't tell. It's starting to feel like we're in a cult -- total lack of sleep coupled with doing the same thing over and over and over again.
Still to come:
Dance performance
Ceili class
Dance class
Ceili class
Then I think something else happens, like, oh, that's right, Easter. That holiday for which we have no shoes or clothing or Easter-basket-stuff.
03 March 2008
Yes, We're Still Here
Most of the Girl Scout cookies have been delivered. For the record, the kids sold pretty much every single box themselves -- we don't do the "parents take sales sheet to work and post it" thing. The kids went door to door to door. The only exceptions were the person who cuts MrV's hair (2 boxes) and a couple of people at church who had the form passed to them (8 boxes).
So we've been schlepping these cookies door to door to door. I think we have less than 10 houses to go now.
Right now I'm passing the time until the vet's office opens. The cat is sick. She didn't eat yesterday, which was worrisome, but, okay, sometimes cats do that. By 6am today, though, she seemed very, very weak. I'm mostly trying to distract myself for another 45 minutes or so until the vet's office opens; every so often I go look to see if she's still breathing.
Okay, I just checked, and she's still alive. So, I cried a little, and tried to think of something else I can do to pass the time.
Gotta go.
So we've been schlepping these cookies door to door to door. I think we have less than 10 houses to go now.
Right now I'm passing the time until the vet's office opens. The cat is sick. She didn't eat yesterday, which was worrisome, but, okay, sometimes cats do that. By 6am today, though, she seemed very, very weak. I'm mostly trying to distract myself for another 45 minutes or so until the vet's office opens; every so often I go look to see if she's still breathing.
Okay, I just checked, and she's still alive. So, I cried a little, and tried to think of something else I can do to pass the time.
Gotta go.
25 February 2008
Welcome to My Nightmare
320 boxes of Girl Scout cookies. To be delivered to about 150 different houses.
21 February 2008
Oh the Weather Outside Is Frightful
But the cables are so delightful:
Sleet and freezing rain, the local schools are closing, our Girls Scout meeting has been cancelled (we still have to pick up over 300 boxes of cookies for delivery, but that's a problem for another day).
We have already brought firewood into the (attached) garage, since all this time reading Little House has taught us something.
And I am prepared to continue my cable obsession, which started with Twist.
This time I'm making a headband for one of the kids, using a pattern she selected from Elsebeth Lavold's Viking Patterns for Knitting. The white yarn is a provisional cast on; when I'm done I'll graft the 2 ends together to make a ring. Then I'll start another headband for the other child, using a different pattern.
This is the first time I've used this book, which I've had for 3 or 4 years. I was intimidated by the charts -- Lavold writes them a bit differently than the cable charts I'm used to. This time, though, I simply plunged in, got it wrong, ripped it out, tried again using the photograph as reference, ripped it out another time or 2, and now am happily working away. There's an explanation of how to use the charts in the book, of course, but that would've taken 5 minutes to read; I much prefer my helter-skelter method of beginning the project immediately, then taking an hour or so to fiddle with it since I was unprepared.
I rarely make gauge swatches, as you could probably guess.
Okay, I made and washed and blocked a gauge swatch for Twist, but my main thought upon doing it was " Gees, I'm really losing my edge," since it's so much more exciting to spend hours and hours making a sweater with only the vaguest idea of whether you're making it the right size. Making the swatch first just seemed so ... safe. When Twist turned out great it wasn't a surprise -- it was a great pattern made in the proper size, ho hum, yawn, of course it looks nice.
Favorite Twist anecdote: I knit on Twist quite a bit a dance class while talking to other moms. And last night I was at dance class knitting away on this headband, and got the question, "Whatever happened to that sweater you were knitting -- did you finish it?" "I'm wearing it now." Jaws drop, gasps. "THAT'S IT?" Then 10 minutes later someone else walks in, says, "Oh, what are you making now? Did you finish that sweater?" etc., etc. I assume they weren't expecting the final product to look so ... I don't know ... wearable.
Sleet and freezing rain, the local schools are closing, our Girls Scout meeting has been cancelled (we still have to pick up over 300 boxes of cookies for delivery, but that's a problem for another day).
We have already brought firewood into the (attached) garage, since all this time reading Little House has taught us something.
And I am prepared to continue my cable obsession, which started with Twist.
This time I'm making a headband for one of the kids, using a pattern she selected from Elsebeth Lavold's Viking Patterns for Knitting. The white yarn is a provisional cast on; when I'm done I'll graft the 2 ends together to make a ring. Then I'll start another headband for the other child, using a different pattern.
This is the first time I've used this book, which I've had for 3 or 4 years. I was intimidated by the charts -- Lavold writes them a bit differently than the cable charts I'm used to. This time, though, I simply plunged in, got it wrong, ripped it out, tried again using the photograph as reference, ripped it out another time or 2, and now am happily working away. There's an explanation of how to use the charts in the book, of course, but that would've taken 5 minutes to read; I much prefer my helter-skelter method of beginning the project immediately, then taking an hour or so to fiddle with it since I was unprepared.
I rarely make gauge swatches, as you could probably guess.
Okay, I made and washed and blocked a gauge swatch for Twist, but my main thought upon doing it was " Gees, I'm really losing my edge," since it's so much more exciting to spend hours and hours making a sweater with only the vaguest idea of whether you're making it the right size. Making the swatch first just seemed so ... safe. When Twist turned out great it wasn't a surprise -- it was a great pattern made in the proper size, ho hum, yawn, of course it looks nice.
Favorite Twist anecdote: I knit on Twist quite a bit a dance class while talking to other moms. And last night I was at dance class knitting away on this headband, and got the question, "Whatever happened to that sweater you were knitting -- did you finish it?" "I'm wearing it now." Jaws drop, gasps. "THAT'S IT?" Then 10 minutes later someone else walks in, says, "Oh, what are you making now? Did you finish that sweater?" etc., etc. I assume they weren't expecting the final product to look so ... I don't know ... wearable.
18 February 2008
Me plus Twist equals Love
Finished product:
I love this sweater. I loved knitting it. I love wearing it. I'm wearing it now.
(Not my favorite photo, though, but the one Blogger would accept. Blogger and I have a very tenuous relationship, you know. But you'd think I could've gotten a better photo considering that I wore the sweater all day Sunday and all day Monday.)
Twist by Bonne Marie Burns, knit out of Cascade Superwash in offwhite, on sizes 5 and 6 needles. I cast on a couple of extra stitches in the back, an extra stitch on each side, and 2 more stitches on each sleeve to make up for the fact that my gauge was a bit off. And, no, I didn't worry about what happened when I bound those stitches back off at the top of the pieces -- I figured that the knitted fabric could be eased to fit (that's the seamstress in me -- you can cut out fabric a bit wonky and still sew it together okay).
I loved this pattern so much that it didn't bother me that I had to knit the left front nearly 3 times before I got the cables right. Well, it didn't bother me much.
And I was pleased to have it done on Saturday night, because
Knit Picks clearanced a bunch of yarn out of their shop right onto my doorstep Saturday afternoon.
The hat in the top photo is already done; socks have been cast on in the cocoa brown Essential ... oooh, I'm feeling productive these days! Except not so productive in the bathroom-cleaning department, sigh....
I love this sweater. I loved knitting it. I love wearing it. I'm wearing it now.
(Not my favorite photo, though, but the one Blogger would accept. Blogger and I have a very tenuous relationship, you know. But you'd think I could've gotten a better photo considering that I wore the sweater all day Sunday and all day Monday.)
Twist by Bonne Marie Burns, knit out of Cascade Superwash in offwhite, on sizes 5 and 6 needles. I cast on a couple of extra stitches in the back, an extra stitch on each side, and 2 more stitches on each sleeve to make up for the fact that my gauge was a bit off. And, no, I didn't worry about what happened when I bound those stitches back off at the top of the pieces -- I figured that the knitted fabric could be eased to fit (that's the seamstress in me -- you can cut out fabric a bit wonky and still sew it together okay).
I loved this pattern so much that it didn't bother me that I had to knit the left front nearly 3 times before I got the cables right. Well, it didn't bother me much.
And I was pleased to have it done on Saturday night, because
Knit Picks clearanced a bunch of yarn out of their shop right onto my doorstep Saturday afternoon.
The hat in the top photo is already done; socks have been cast on in the cocoa brown Essential ... oooh, I'm feeling productive these days! Except not so productive in the bathroom-cleaning department, sigh....
Saturday
"What did you do this weekend?"
Oh, I'm so glad you asked.
Saturday we got up early, loaded dance paraphernalia into the car, and headed to the Ballpark Hilton for a day of feising at the Irish Arts Feis. MrV dropped us off at the door, and then drove off to find parking (since the valet parking was not only expensive, but also full; he eventually found a spot on the street a few blocks away; at least it wasn't as bad as last year when there were mounds of snow all over and virtually no parking anyway since the feis was on the same weekend as the Mardi Gras parade -- did you know the St. Louis Mardi Gras parade is the 2nd largest in the US? So, anyway, immediate grumpiness about the feis before we've even begun, due to crummy parking situation).
We went on in and I purchased a wristband, since this feis requires ALL non-dancers to pay $10 to watch the dancers. The dancers, of course, have paid $8 per dance to compete. The rest of us -- family, friends, curious people wandering by who wonder what an Irish dance competition looks like -- must each pay $10. Even the little 3 month old baby needs to pay for a wristband. Other feisanna in St. Louis don't do this -- you pay a flat fee online (maybe $10-$15 per family) for which you can bring every relative you have plus your entire neighborhood. So, second instance of grumpiness, and we haven't even gotten to our stages.
We had scoped out the hotel the night before. The place is rather choppy, and currently worse due to some massive construction project. The feis volunteers had some confusing signs up as to where the various stages were, although that wasn't really their fault. It was impossible to NOT be confusing under the circumstances. And they tried to amend signs as they observed people wandering off in the wrong directions. Overall, I was glad I knew where to deposit the kids' dance bags.
Kid1 danced on stages 1 and 2, which were located in the same ballroom. Yay for not having to switch rooms. But the signs on the stages listing which dance competed when were rather tiny and poorly lit. Kid1 had some moments of panic when she realized she couldn't read them since she's nearsighted.
Kid2 was on stages 5 and 6 -- again, both in the same ballroom. Except you can't see the signs for who's "up" on stage 5 when you're at stage 6, and vice versa, which was a little annoying (I live in fear of totally missing a dance because we weren't paying attention).
Stages 1 and 2 started promptly at 8:30 with the singing of national anthems. They moved on to figure dances. Then ... stopped. Because all the figure dances have to be done on all stages before they can start the solo dances. So they then sat looking at an empty stage for about an hour. In the meantime, stages 5 and 6 sat empty for 20 to 30 minutes ... perhaps we were waiting for figure dancers on other stages to come and compete on ours? Who knows. You'd think they'd figure out who had to be where when, and tweak the schedule accordingly. Another grumpiness factor -- couldn't they be a bit more organized?
The figure dances on our stage were interesting. Most of the groups continued dancing long after the musician stopped (note: we had a single accordion player who had to play non-stop for hours, and yes, he did mess up more than once, including one time where he totally pooped out in the middle of a competition -- grumpiness about the musician situation is registered). The judge eventually told one group, "You need to stop dancing after xx bars." I heard the girls whispering, asking why their instructor didn't explain how long to dance.
Eventually, though, the solo competitions started. This was the first feis in which we competed at Beginner 2 level. I missed all of Kid1's dances. She reported that her worst dance was Treble Reel, as she didn't start correctly.
Kid2 seemed to do fine, although she was competing against a boatload of other girls. The way these competitions work at this level: everyone competing in a particular dance makes a long line across the back of the stage (sometimes it can be 2 lines), then the kids come out 2 at a time (other feisaenna sometimes have them dance 3 at a time) and dance their dance, they return to place, the next 2 are already poised to start immediately (as in on the very next beat of the music), and so on down the line. Then everyone bows and walks off. So if you have a large group to get through, it can take quite a while per dance. And it did. Kid1 was done long before Kid2, so she and MrV came into our ballroom to watch.
By the way, the stage manager on stage 6 (where Kid2 danced most of her dances) was excellent. He kept all these little girls organized, made sure kids from the same school didn't dance at the same time (each school has different choreography for each dance, so it's better to mix up the schools so you don't have 2 dancers doing the exact same thing at the same time). He was truly a bright spot in the day.
They arrive in plenty of time to see Kid2's Treble Reel. She had never competed it this dance before, and seemed tentative.
Soon we were finished with all the dances. The girls changed their clothing, MrV gave his wristband to someone else who wanted to see the feis (he had never actually attached it to his wrist, and this was his way of protesting the $10 admission), we took the dresses back to the car (parked several blocks away) and we went to buy a new wig, chat with some people from our school, then to look for the scores. Both kids placed 3rd in Treble Jig! Woohoo! The rest of their scores were 4th or lower, but the 3rd place meant that they each got a medal. But, oh, whoops, the hornpipe scores weren't up yet. Let's wait a few minutes ... a few more minutes ... by the way, where do you want to have lunch, since we barely ate breakfast and it's about noon ... more waiting ... ask the volunteer in charge of posting scores if he knows what may be going on ... he's quite testy, and says the judges sometimes don't get the scores to the stage runners promptly (hmmm, why is the burden on the judge? could it possibly be that the system for getting the scores into the hands of the stage runner could use some tweaking to help it flow more smoothly?) ... waiting ... waiting .... FINALLY! Okay, after an hour, the scores appear and we can head home. Another item of grumpiness -- how long it took for some of the scores to appear.
We will never attend this feis again. Don't like the venue (it's nice as a hotel, but not for a feis), don't think it's very organized, really really really don't like the wristband -- we shouldn't have to pay $10 a piece for something that seems slopped together.
The rest of the day: finish Twist, which consisted of knitting 4 more rows on the collar, steam blocking the collar and button bands, then sewing on the buttons (pictures to follow eventually). In the meantime, MrV took Kid1 to pick up her glasses.
Overall, a productive, if not entirely happy, non-grumpy day.
Oh, I'm so glad you asked.
Saturday we got up early, loaded dance paraphernalia into the car, and headed to the Ballpark Hilton for a day of feising at the Irish Arts Feis. MrV dropped us off at the door, and then drove off to find parking (since the valet parking was not only expensive, but also full; he eventually found a spot on the street a few blocks away; at least it wasn't as bad as last year when there were mounds of snow all over and virtually no parking anyway since the feis was on the same weekend as the Mardi Gras parade -- did you know the St. Louis Mardi Gras parade is the 2nd largest in the US? So, anyway, immediate grumpiness about the feis before we've even begun, due to crummy parking situation).
We went on in and I purchased a wristband, since this feis requires ALL non-dancers to pay $10 to watch the dancers. The dancers, of course, have paid $8 per dance to compete. The rest of us -- family, friends, curious people wandering by who wonder what an Irish dance competition looks like -- must each pay $10. Even the little 3 month old baby needs to pay for a wristband. Other feisanna in St. Louis don't do this -- you pay a flat fee online (maybe $10-$15 per family) for which you can bring every relative you have plus your entire neighborhood. So, second instance of grumpiness, and we haven't even gotten to our stages.
We had scoped out the hotel the night before. The place is rather choppy, and currently worse due to some massive construction project. The feis volunteers had some confusing signs up as to where the various stages were, although that wasn't really their fault. It was impossible to NOT be confusing under the circumstances. And they tried to amend signs as they observed people wandering off in the wrong directions. Overall, I was glad I knew where to deposit the kids' dance bags.
Kid1 danced on stages 1 and 2, which were located in the same ballroom. Yay for not having to switch rooms. But the signs on the stages listing which dance competed when were rather tiny and poorly lit. Kid1 had some moments of panic when she realized she couldn't read them since she's nearsighted.
Kid2 was on stages 5 and 6 -- again, both in the same ballroom. Except you can't see the signs for who's "up" on stage 5 when you're at stage 6, and vice versa, which was a little annoying (I live in fear of totally missing a dance because we weren't paying attention).
Stages 1 and 2 started promptly at 8:30 with the singing of national anthems. They moved on to figure dances. Then ... stopped. Because all the figure dances have to be done on all stages before they can start the solo dances. So they then sat looking at an empty stage for about an hour. In the meantime, stages 5 and 6 sat empty for 20 to 30 minutes ... perhaps we were waiting for figure dancers on other stages to come and compete on ours? Who knows. You'd think they'd figure out who had to be where when, and tweak the schedule accordingly. Another grumpiness factor -- couldn't they be a bit more organized?
The figure dances on our stage were interesting. Most of the groups continued dancing long after the musician stopped (note: we had a single accordion player who had to play non-stop for hours, and yes, he did mess up more than once, including one time where he totally pooped out in the middle of a competition -- grumpiness about the musician situation is registered). The judge eventually told one group, "You need to stop dancing after xx bars." I heard the girls whispering, asking why their instructor didn't explain how long to dance.
Eventually, though, the solo competitions started. This was the first feis in which we competed at Beginner 2 level. I missed all of Kid1's dances. She reported that her worst dance was Treble Reel, as she didn't start correctly.
Kid2 seemed to do fine, although she was competing against a boatload of other girls. The way these competitions work at this level: everyone competing in a particular dance makes a long line across the back of the stage (sometimes it can be 2 lines), then the kids come out 2 at a time (other feisaenna sometimes have them dance 3 at a time) and dance their dance, they return to place, the next 2 are already poised to start immediately (as in on the very next beat of the music), and so on down the line. Then everyone bows and walks off. So if you have a large group to get through, it can take quite a while per dance. And it did. Kid1 was done long before Kid2, so she and MrV came into our ballroom to watch.
By the way, the stage manager on stage 6 (where Kid2 danced most of her dances) was excellent. He kept all these little girls organized, made sure kids from the same school didn't dance at the same time (each school has different choreography for each dance, so it's better to mix up the schools so you don't have 2 dancers doing the exact same thing at the same time). He was truly a bright spot in the day.
They arrive in plenty of time to see Kid2's Treble Reel. She had never competed it this dance before, and seemed tentative.
Soon we were finished with all the dances. The girls changed their clothing, MrV gave his wristband to someone else who wanted to see the feis (he had never actually attached it to his wrist, and this was his way of protesting the $10 admission), we took the dresses back to the car (parked several blocks away) and we went to buy a new wig, chat with some people from our school, then to look for the scores. Both kids placed 3rd in Treble Jig! Woohoo! The rest of their scores were 4th or lower, but the 3rd place meant that they each got a medal. But, oh, whoops, the hornpipe scores weren't up yet. Let's wait a few minutes ... a few more minutes ... by the way, where do you want to have lunch, since we barely ate breakfast and it's about noon ... more waiting ... ask the volunteer in charge of posting scores if he knows what may be going on ... he's quite testy, and says the judges sometimes don't get the scores to the stage runners promptly (hmmm, why is the burden on the judge? could it possibly be that the system for getting the scores into the hands of the stage runner could use some tweaking to help it flow more smoothly?) ... waiting ... waiting .... FINALLY! Okay, after an hour, the scores appear and we can head home. Another item of grumpiness -- how long it took for some of the scores to appear.
We will never attend this feis again. Don't like the venue (it's nice as a hotel, but not for a feis), don't think it's very organized, really really really don't like the wristband -- we shouldn't have to pay $10 a piece for something that seems slopped together.
The rest of the day: finish Twist, which consisted of knitting 4 more rows on the collar, steam blocking the collar and button bands, then sewing on the buttons (pictures to follow eventually). In the meantime, MrV took Kid1 to pick up her glasses.
Overall, a productive, if not entirely happy, non-grumpy day.
14 February 2008
Juggling
So I'm trying to make wholesome, nourishing food for my family, homeschool, make some of our clothing, keep the house reasonably clean, and I'm wondering how the heck did Ma Ingalls juggle all of this stuff?
Like, right now I've got more bone broth started, which I did in between lessons this morning. I want to start some lacto-ferment ginger ale but need time to chop up the ginger, except we need to leave to take Kid1 to a Valentine's party for her Scout troop, at which time the leader will probably try to flag me down to ask what exactly we're doing for the theatre badge I'm supposed to lead in March. And I still haven't finished that sweater (although every night at dance I knit on the button band, then unravel it again when I decide I don't like it -- I'm getting really, really good at knitting buttonholes, by the way, having done 21 of them in the past 2 days). And sewing? Umm, no, not lately. Same with cleaning the bathrooms.
Of course, part of it is that Ma Ingalls wasn't hauling kids to dance and Scouts and piano and choir and the library.
Also, it occurs to me that Ma Ingalls life really sucked, when you get down to it. I mean, we've read these books over and over, and a lot of it is pretty bleak. (Side note: today we were in Silver Lake, and read the part where the moved into the surveyor's house, and Pa got out his fiddle to play jigs and reels and hornpipes, and we were all impressed that we know exactly what is meant by each of those terms ... except then we had an argument break out about the time signature for a hornpipe, which I suspect wasn't really the point of that passage.).
(By the way, don't be thinking that the problem with making a lot of your own clothes is that we expect to own a larger wardrobe these days. You're talking to a woman who can (and has) gone months at a time owning only 3 pairs of pants, 1 of which wasn't fit to wear out of the house. That was back in 2007, of course, and I have 2 more pairs now. And in 2006 I wore the same skirt to church pretty much every week -- as opposed to the 3 years before when I'd alternate between 2. Overall, I have a smaller than average wardrobe, it seems. I probably have fewer yards of fabric in my total wardrobe than did Ma Ingalls.)
Must go do something or other....
Like, right now I've got more bone broth started, which I did in between lessons this morning. I want to start some lacto-ferment ginger ale but need time to chop up the ginger, except we need to leave to take Kid1 to a Valentine's party for her Scout troop, at which time the leader will probably try to flag me down to ask what exactly we're doing for the theatre badge I'm supposed to lead in March. And I still haven't finished that sweater (although every night at dance I knit on the button band, then unravel it again when I decide I don't like it -- I'm getting really, really good at knitting buttonholes, by the way, having done 21 of them in the past 2 days). And sewing? Umm, no, not lately. Same with cleaning the bathrooms.
Of course, part of it is that Ma Ingalls wasn't hauling kids to dance and Scouts and piano and choir and the library.
Also, it occurs to me that Ma Ingalls life really sucked, when you get down to it. I mean, we've read these books over and over, and a lot of it is pretty bleak. (Side note: today we were in Silver Lake, and read the part where the moved into the surveyor's house, and Pa got out his fiddle to play jigs and reels and hornpipes, and we were all impressed that we know exactly what is meant by each of those terms ... except then we had an argument break out about the time signature for a hornpipe, which I suspect wasn't really the point of that passage.).
(By the way, don't be thinking that the problem with making a lot of your own clothes is that we expect to own a larger wardrobe these days. You're talking to a woman who can (and has) gone months at a time owning only 3 pairs of pants, 1 of which wasn't fit to wear out of the house. That was back in 2007, of course, and I have 2 more pairs now. And in 2006 I wore the same skirt to church pretty much every week -- as opposed to the 3 years before when I'd alternate between 2. Overall, I have a smaller than average wardrobe, it seems. I probably have fewer yards of fabric in my total wardrobe than did Ma Ingalls.)
Must go do something or other....
12 February 2008
Red
Beet Kvass.
I don't care so much about its medicinal qualities. I think it's pretty. And I really, really like beets.
I also don't care so much about Project Spectrum, since arbitrarily assigning colors to months doesn't really inspire me, but it's a nice excuse to show this photo. So, this is my bow to Project Spectrum 2008. There may be others, if I randomly happen to be doing something in the appropriate color.
Really, right now I'm working more in blue:
Fuzzy Feet. Dance class was cancelled last night, I think due to weather. So they will debut tonight.
In order to felt them I threw them in the front load washer with a load of towels. One foot is a bit larger than the other. I might throw them in again with another load of laundry, just to see if they'll even up.
I also got some royal blue PUL yesterday to make dress shields for use in our blue school dresses (Irish dance dresses can't be tossed in the laundry after a show or feis, so we have to invent other ways to keep the sweat off). Not too inspiring as a craft project ... unless you're in Irish Dance. Honestly, I wonder why I've never seen anyone suggest making dress shields out of materials that match the dress? Maybe I'll find out what's wrong with this idea when it all ends in disaster at the feis this weekend. Or maybe I'll be hailed as a hero.
11 February 2008
Panic Knitting
I've been working fairly steadily on Twist, hoping to have it done by the Irish Arts Feis this Saturday. First of all, I think it looks like something you should wear to a feis -- cables, but not too-too, you know? Sort of an "okay, I'm into this Celtic thing, but I'm not so into it that I brought my bagpipes" vibe. Second, I told the all-but-kitchenered lady at dance class that I planned to have it done by the feis, so I feel a sense of obligation; she did comment a couple of weeks later that she wasn't holding me to that (wonder if she reads this blog).
It needs a button band and collar. Oh, and buttons, which I haven't shopped for yet. And I love it, and have enjoyed knitting it so very much that I'm almost sad to see it end.
BUT
IT IS COLD HERE
And we have dance class 3 nights this week. And the studio thermostat is set at Arctic Wasteland, which is great if you're dancing, but really really stinks if you're sitting around waiting for your child to finish up.
There are 2 areas in which you can wait: There's the outer waiting room next to the door -- that would be the outside door that the dancers leave open for long periods as they leave and enter the studio, and generally let 12F breezes blow in. Or, there's the changing room down the hall, which has benches for the dancers to use while changing shoes (although, of course, everyone sits on the floor to change their shoes -- I think that's some sort of Dancer Code of Conduct that you have to plop in the middle of the floor to change shoes and simultaneously stretch and chatter). The changing room is slightly warmer than the outer waiting room, except that you must take off your street shoes from off your feet as though you are entering holy ground, mostly because your street shoes have all sorts of icky crud on the bottom that shouldn't be tracked into the studio proper due to its fancy, springy floor.
And so, if you sit there, your feet get mighty cold. Cold enough to need a pair of Fuzzy Feet
which are being knit in our dance school's color.
At some point I may even embroider our studio's logo on it. For now, though, I just want to get them knit and felted by class tonight. I'm shivering just thinking about it.
It needs a button band and collar. Oh, and buttons, which I haven't shopped for yet. And I love it, and have enjoyed knitting it so very much that I'm almost sad to see it end.
BUT
IT IS COLD HERE
And we have dance class 3 nights this week. And the studio thermostat is set at Arctic Wasteland, which is great if you're dancing, but really really stinks if you're sitting around waiting for your child to finish up.
There are 2 areas in which you can wait: There's the outer waiting room next to the door -- that would be the outside door that the dancers leave open for long periods as they leave and enter the studio, and generally let 12F breezes blow in. Or, there's the changing room down the hall, which has benches for the dancers to use while changing shoes (although, of course, everyone sits on the floor to change their shoes -- I think that's some sort of Dancer Code of Conduct that you have to plop in the middle of the floor to change shoes and simultaneously stretch and chatter). The changing room is slightly warmer than the outer waiting room, except that you must take off your street shoes from off your feet as though you are entering holy ground, mostly because your street shoes have all sorts of icky crud on the bottom that shouldn't be tracked into the studio proper due to its fancy, springy floor.
And so, if you sit there, your feet get mighty cold. Cold enough to need a pair of Fuzzy Feet
which are being knit in our dance school's color.
At some point I may even embroider our studio's logo on it. For now, though, I just want to get them knit and felted by class tonight. I'm shivering just thinking about it.
08 February 2008
Random Bits
It's been such a whirlwind around here, that I'm having trouble focusing on much of anything, including writing a coherent paragraph. So this will be just bits and pieces.
The cooking adventures from earlier in the week were a mixed bag. The broth is excellent. Some of it became chicken soup. It smells so heavenly that the cat wants to wallow in a vat of it. The kefir was a flop. I was using a powdered kefir which I think was too old. I had it in the refrigerator ... I have some in the freezer, and may try again with that. The whey has been separated from the yogurt, but still hasn't been combined with the beets to make the kvass. I suspect that it would help if I were actually home long enough to do something other than race through the house.
We've been busy with scouts. We've visited a new doctor for a well-child visit, where we learned that Kid1 is officially bigger than me -- both taller and heavier. We've gone to piano. We cleared all the scrapbooking stuff off the dining room table to replace it with sewing stuff (last week the kids were wild about scrapbooking; this week they're drafting patterns for doll clothes).
We went to see Bodyworlds, which is simply amazing.
It was really, really warm, and we were running around in shorts and T-shirts. Then it snowed a bunch, and the kids spent the day sledding. Then it got really, really warm again, and we put the T-shirts back on.
And then there's dance. Ceili class, dance class, another ceili class for the other child, dance performance, another dance class.... Yes, the kids have joined ceili teams. These are, well, they're dance teams. They do group dances that sometimes look like really fancy square dances. Kid1 is on a team that does performances but doesn't compete. She was place on this team basis her height, by the way, and is the youngest and possibly least-experienced. She adores it. And Kid2 ... has been asked to be on a team that is going to the national championships (one of the members who went to Oireachtas -- the regional championships -- dropped out). This is a Big Commitment, and I question our sanity about this daily. It involves lots of performances AND competitions. And workshops. And new shoes, and a new wig, and (most exciting by far) a new School Dress in which to dance.
I'm chugging along on my knitting. I had been doing some sewing, was almost done with the garment, hung it in the closet and forgot about it. I mean, I have maybe 5 more minutes of work for it to be officially done. There's probably some interesting psychological reason for not just Getting It Done. Or maybe I'm just sort of frazzled and disconnected, and forgot about it until now.
I need to go do ... something. Clean something? Organize some schoolwork? Get dressed? Umm, not sure. Maybe I'll just stare out the window and pet the cat.
The cooking adventures from earlier in the week were a mixed bag. The broth is excellent. Some of it became chicken soup. It smells so heavenly that the cat wants to wallow in a vat of it. The kefir was a flop. I was using a powdered kefir which I think was too old. I had it in the refrigerator ... I have some in the freezer, and may try again with that. The whey has been separated from the yogurt, but still hasn't been combined with the beets to make the kvass. I suspect that it would help if I were actually home long enough to do something other than race through the house.
We've been busy with scouts. We've visited a new doctor for a well-child visit, where we learned that Kid1 is officially bigger than me -- both taller and heavier. We've gone to piano. We cleared all the scrapbooking stuff off the dining room table to replace it with sewing stuff (last week the kids were wild about scrapbooking; this week they're drafting patterns for doll clothes).
We went to see Bodyworlds, which is simply amazing.
It was really, really warm, and we were running around in shorts and T-shirts. Then it snowed a bunch, and the kids spent the day sledding. Then it got really, really warm again, and we put the T-shirts back on.
And then there's dance. Ceili class, dance class, another ceili class for the other child, dance performance, another dance class.... Yes, the kids have joined ceili teams. These are, well, they're dance teams. They do group dances that sometimes look like really fancy square dances. Kid1 is on a team that does performances but doesn't compete. She was place on this team basis her height, by the way, and is the youngest and possibly least-experienced. She adores it. And Kid2 ... has been asked to be on a team that is going to the national championships (one of the members who went to Oireachtas -- the regional championships -- dropped out). This is a Big Commitment, and I question our sanity about this daily. It involves lots of performances AND competitions. And workshops. And new shoes, and a new wig, and (most exciting by far) a new School Dress in which to dance.
I'm chugging along on my knitting. I had been doing some sewing, was almost done with the garment, hung it in the closet and forgot about it. I mean, I have maybe 5 more minutes of work for it to be officially done. There's probably some interesting psychological reason for not just Getting It Done. Or maybe I'm just sort of frazzled and disconnected, and forgot about it until now.
I need to go do ... something. Clean something? Organize some schoolwork? Get dressed? Umm, not sure. Maybe I'll just stare out the window and pet the cat.
04 February 2008
Reading
We continue to work our way through Ambleside Online Year One. We're on week 26, sort of. We've finished the Holling C. Holling book already (we had substituted Pagoo for Paddle to the Sea since we'd already read the latter). It has finally sunk in that I really don't like Holling C Holling books, so we whipped through it to get it over with.
In our perpetual Little House Marathon, we are now On the Shores of Silver Lake. This is our second trip through this particular segment of the Little House sequence, and it's striking me as a more depressing journey this time through. I keep noticing all the disasters that befall the family. Sheesh, they should've stayed in the Big Woods.
MrV is reading The LIghtning Thief aloud in the evenings.
Kid1 just finished Crispin for her Bravewriter Boomerang online discussion group (I would link to Boomerang, but Blogger isn't letting me, sigh). Honestly, I don't try to keep up with what all she's reading. She's also working through the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, which obviously has nothing to do with any schoolwork.
Kid2 is reading...well, I really don't know what the heck she's reading. I see her with books. I think she's reading one of the Girls of Many Lands series.
Due to bookstore giftcards, I've had a sudden influx of craft books to browse:
Sensual Crochet by Amy Swenson. Knitting Classic Style by Veronik Avery (if you're on Ravelry you can see all the items in the book there, which is a wicked cool feature of that website), and Designer Needle Felting by Terry Taylor.
I'm also reading Performance Without Pain by Kathryne Pirtle. It focusses on diet, particularly the type of diet promoted by the Weston A. Price organization. Her twist is that she was severely ill (undiagnosed celiac who had eaten wheat for over 40 years), and used concepts in Nourishing Traditions to help heal herself. This has inspired me to re-visit some of the food prep I've done before, so even as I type I have a bone broth simmering on the stove, whey separating out for future use in beet kvass, and some kefir cream soda brewing on the counter (actually I've never done the kefir thing before, and am hoping the whole jar doesn't explode -- stay tuned).
In our perpetual Little House Marathon, we are now On the Shores of Silver Lake. This is our second trip through this particular segment of the Little House sequence, and it's striking me as a more depressing journey this time through. I keep noticing all the disasters that befall the family. Sheesh, they should've stayed in the Big Woods.
MrV is reading The LIghtning Thief aloud in the evenings.
Kid1 just finished Crispin for her Bravewriter Boomerang online discussion group (I would link to Boomerang, but Blogger isn't letting me, sigh). Honestly, I don't try to keep up with what all she's reading. She's also working through the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, which obviously has nothing to do with any schoolwork.
Kid2 is reading...well, I really don't know what the heck she's reading. I see her with books. I think she's reading one of the Girls of Many Lands series.
Due to bookstore giftcards, I've had a sudden influx of craft books to browse:
Sensual Crochet by Amy Swenson. Knitting Classic Style by Veronik Avery (if you're on Ravelry you can see all the items in the book there, which is a wicked cool feature of that website), and Designer Needle Felting by Terry Taylor.
I'm also reading Performance Without Pain by Kathryne Pirtle. It focusses on diet, particularly the type of diet promoted by the Weston A. Price organization. Her twist is that she was severely ill (undiagnosed celiac who had eaten wheat for over 40 years), and used concepts in Nourishing Traditions to help heal herself. This has inspired me to re-visit some of the food prep I've done before, so even as I type I have a bone broth simmering on the stove, whey separating out for future use in beet kvass, and some kefir cream soda brewing on the counter (actually I've never done the kefir thing before, and am hoping the whole jar doesn't explode -- stay tuned).
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